Dive Brief:

• CPS Energy has announced it will begin purchasing clean coal electricity from Summit Power Group's 200-MW carbon capture and storage facility when the plant is completed in 2019.
• The West Texas plant is expected to capture more than 90 percent of its carbon emissions. Summit Power Group has contracts to sell the captured carbon to three companies in the Permian Basin for use in enhanced oil recovery.
• Summit also plans to sell sulfuric acid and fertilizer produced at the plant, to be located about 15 miles outside of Odessa, Texas.

Dive Insight:

In 2013 a purchase power agreement between Summit and CPS expired, and the two companies have been in negotiations since then. Officials at CPS Energy say this agreement is "more favorable to CPS Energy customers" and will help the state meet EPA emissions limits.

Power prices in the ERCOT market have dropped while the project has been in development, CPS noted, meaning lower bills for consumers.

“We remained hopeful this project would be built and that CPS Energy customers could take advantage of this low-carbon source of power,” said CPS Energy CEO Doyle Beneby. “Adding clean coal to our portfolio dovetails with our strategies to diversify and reduce the carbon intensity of the power we supply to our customers.”